Green Real Estate Appraiser

SolarWorld Wins Steep Tariffs on Chinese Solar Products

Posted on June 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

SolarWorld blazed toward victory in its trade fight Thursday as the U.S. government announced plans to slap tariffs ranging from 31 percent to 250 percent on Chinese solar panels and cells.

But managers of the solar company, aiming to preserve jobs that include 1,000 in Hillsboro, hinted that the duties aren’t high enough to help U.S. manufacturers prosper. They hope the U.S. Commerce Department will soon announce additional tariffs, even as China appears set to retaliate as soon as next week.

U.S. solar stocks jumped Thursday on news that the Commerce Department would impose 31 percent tariffs on exports by companies including SolarWorld’s two largest Chinese competitors, Trina Solar Ltd. and Suntech Power Holdings Co.

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Virtual Staging – Interactive Tour Lets Potential Buyers Design Interior on Current Listings

Posted on June 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

BEFORE Michael Kenduck’s listing for a 10-year-old three-bedroom stucco colonial in Franklin Square officially went on the market, more than 40 potential buyers had already “walked” through. Their previews were embellished by virtual staging of their choice — by means of an interactive tour in which each visitor “painted” and “decorated” some rooms in the house (which is actually empty).

Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your listing questions.

The house cannot be listed until its corporate owner decides on an exact price, which Mr. Kenduck, the managing partner of Cruse Real Estate, estimates will be in the $500,000 range. But that did not keep him from sending an e-mail blast to the 3,500 names in his database with a link to the online tour.

It included a “style designer” tool that let recipients choose among traditional, transitional, contemporary, modern and something called “Classic Pierce” style to furnish the huge master bedroom suite, paint the walls and trim, and add carpeting. “They are salivating,” said Mr. Kenduck, whose firm, with offices in Seaford, Syosset and Queens, specializes in distressed and bank-owned properties.

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Architects Think Big With Small Houses

Posted on June 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

It could have been the GFC. It could be greater consciousness – if not conscience – about our residential environmental footprint.

It could just be that we’re sick of vacuuming hectares of house.

It could be the sobering cost of furnishing, heating and cooling great hulking domiciles.

Have questions about the price per square foot? Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.comfor your value questions.

Whatever; after becoming world champions of building the biggest homes on the planet by 2008 – and at an average of 250 square metres, Melbourne’s new housing had become the biggest in Australia – we’re starting to get over ”the wow factor” of scale in domestic space and starting to question if we need all those rooms when the average household is only 2.5 people.

”Do you really need all that room?” is a question architects are asking more forcefully and frequently these days. Tony Battersby, of SJB Architects and a council member of the Australian Institute of Architects Victorian chapter, says ”more-thoughtful architects are challenging client briefs with the proposition that rather than building volume for volume’s sake … wouldn’t it be better to have a house of beautiful proportion, of beautifully contained space?”

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

SolarWorld Wins Steep Tariffs on Chinese Solar Products

Virtual Staging – Interactive Tour Lets Potential Buyers Design Interior on Current Listings

Architects Think Big With Small Houses

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